Wednesday, November 05, 2008

My good buddy emawkc, cynical and bitter old bastard that he is, thinks that we are all a bunch of sappy, naive, unicorn-riding, butterfly-catching dopes for being happy America elected Barack Obama and thinking anything is going to change.

"But aside from the fact that by definition history is made every day, the only thing remarkable about this election is that Obama is black.

For some people that's enough. Heck, for some people that's the only thing that matters.

As for history and the big "change" that everyone is expecting, I'm surprised that so many are so naive to think that any real change will actually happen.

Politicians are still beholden the money of special interests. With Obama, even more so."

Well, he has already changed some things, hasn't he?

He sure as fuck changed some Red States to Blue States.

But here is the kind of change people wanted and the kind of change they got last night.

A change in approach. A change in leadership. A change in attitude.

Dubya's administration walked into office thinking that since the United States was the sole surviving Super Power from the Cold War, we can call the shots. We have the power to change the world and it is our God Given Mandate to do so.

So they set about stomping all over the world like a bad actor in a rubber Godzilla suit destroying the "Evil Doers" (a.k.a anyone we don't like and weak enough to beat up).

Barack Obama understands the difference between being a Leader and a Bully.

Leadership is all about inspiring people with a vision of where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. If you are an effective leader, people will flock to you because they share your goals and want to help you achieve them.

But bully's don't know how to lead. They only know how to threaten, intimidate and humiliate. Do what I want, the way I want, in the time frame I want, or I'll fuck you up three ways from Sunday!

That was the Bush Doctrine.

Emawkc (and the rest of the Obama detractors), you can say what you want about butterflies and unicorns. But you cannot deny that Obama has true leadership, that he inspires people, that people follow him because they want to, not because they are cattle prodded up the ass with threats of retribution, and fear of dire consequences.

Obama will look for ways to bring people together to achieve a common goal instead of following the Rove doctrine of finding divisive issues to set people apart from each other and create conflict to fuel partisan passions.

Obama will work HARD to re-establish communication with the rest of the world. No more isolationism. No more "our way or the highway". No more "you are with us or against us". The world is only that simple to a simpleton. The simpleton in question only has 75 days left to continue fucking things up.

Obama understands that we all live on this planet together. We all have to succeed or we will all fail. We live in a global economy and a global geo-political stage. There is no going back.

The biggest threat to everyone's security comes from people ANYWHERE in the world, including the U.S., at the bottom who feel like they have nothing to live for and nothing to lose.

If you can find a way to lift up that dangerous layer of the world and give them a reason for living and contributing, you have eliminated the greatest threat to post-modern civilization.

That is the Hope that Obama brings not just to the United States, but to the world.

I will give you that as far as his campaign. It was a brilliantly run campaign. I cannot say the same for his record. How he governs in the future is yet to be determined.

"So they set about stomping all over the world like a bad actor in a rubber Godzilla suit destroying the "Evil Doers" (a.k.a anyone we don't like and weak enough to beat up"

Yes, we invaded Iraq based on faulty information. Obama is going to be tested same as Bush. We all know it. I hope his intelligence is better than Bush's because he's not going to have a lot of time to dick around with the UN when another country has nuclear weapons at the ready and especially when those nuclear weapons are not pointed directly at us but at those we are committed to protect.

"Leadership is all about inspiring people with a vision of where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. If you are an effective leader, people will flock to you because they share your goals and want to help you achieve them."

Absolutely true; however, we know that people can be inspired by any gifted orator. Preachers do it every Sunday and people flock to the best of them. It's the motives of the speakers that matter. I'm not saying that Obama has bad motives. I am saying that those motives have yet to be proven as with any newly elected leader, especially one with a slim record.

The rest of your rationale depends on a lot of things. I trust you do not agree with Sharia law. I trust you do not agree with communism. But, millions of people believe in these religious and political ideologies. Of course we have no choice but to co-exist with these countries and peoples, but it is Obama's job to make certain that we are also protected from them and that the democracy we live under is never threatened.

I wish him well. I sure as heck don't want failure because my lifestyle and even my very life depends on his success. I will, however, fight tooth and nail against hard left ideologies that threaten what I believe in.

And, I hope this thing doesn't double post again. I seem to be having some trouble there.

"No more "our way or the highway". No more "you are with us or against us"."

I can't wait to see if this actually comes true for you. Looking forward to this administration being all that you HOPE and DREAM (and some PRAY, though not you, of course) it will be! Because honestly, that's all you're running on right now. You're talking like he's proven himself aready. And he hasn't. You have to at least admit that much. Thus far, the guy is all talk. his whole "bringing the country together" crap is already getting old to me, and it's only been 2 fucking days. ::rolls eyes::

I don't believe anyone has expectations that Obama is going to change the world. The skeptics cited his 'empty' rhetoric, no matter how much substance he followed it with. The haters will be haters - I look forward to proving them wrong. Not because Obama is going to start a revolution, not because my water fountain is going to start leaking platinum drips, but because he is going to change the way we do some things. And some is better than none. But he has a long road ahead. Things will get worse before they get better - no matter who is at the helm - and he'll take that heat for a long time coming. But unlike the last eight years of steady decline, I will look to my president to reassure me, not put me to sleep, ask for my help, not tell me what to do, be my rock, not act like he's smoking it. I am so excited, and I'm not going to let people get me down. I don't care if they think I'm an idiot with false hopes and white guilt - I don't have to be brought down by them anymore. Even if he fails at governance - which I highly doubt - he has ignited half this nation. Some are just more flame retardant.

Real leadership, especially on a national scale is *hard*. Obama said it himself in his victory speech.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand."

Maybe, and just maybe, I'm just fucking happy there's an adult back in the Whitehouse. None of this bullshit about "I've earned political capital and I'm gonna spend it!" The problems are serious, the approach needs to be thoughtful. Obama is not a messiah, but I didn't elect him to be one either. I voted him in because I wanted a serious studious approach to fixing the problems that face all of us.